CHAPTER 148: I WILL BE NUMBER ONE

At this moment, both Rolf and Marshall were in terrible condition.

The surge of explosion caused by Eunice’s self-destruction at the last moment was too terrifying. Destructive energy spread everywhere, so lethal that anyone approaching her would likely perish alongside her.

Even so, Marshall was in an especially wretched state.

"Urrghhh...!"

He lay on the ground screaming, lifting his one remaining normal-sized arm, only the upper half was still intact. His forearm and hand were completely gone, the stump a bloody, torn mess.

After using Giant Magic to partially enlarge his body, that enlarged portion had become significantly tougher. Yet even so, it couldn’t withstand the devastating power unleashed by Eunice’s suicidal explosion, her hand was instantly destroyed.

Even his body was now riddled with wounds. Though he hadn’t stood directly beside Eunice, he hadn’t been far either. His entire body was torn and bloodied, appearing especially gruesome.

Compared to him, Rolf was in much better shape. Though he too was covered in blood and suffering unbearable pain, his injuries weren’t nearly as severe.

At this moment, Rolf paid no heed to Marshall’s screams. He rushed to where Eunice had exploded and found a pile of relics there.

Everything on Eunice’s body had been destroyed, but these relics were special artifacts from Sky Island, so they naturally remained unharmed.

Rolf picked up the relics, immediately channeling magic into them to check the Sky Rankings. Then a look of delight appeared on his face.

"We’ve entered the top three! We’ve pushed down that General Soul Reaper!"

Combined with Eunice’s tokens and their own, the name Marshall Regan instantly climbed to third place.

Seeing this ranking, even Marshall managed to endure his pain and push himself up.

He was naturally overjoyed to have reached third place, yet the agony throughout his body was still unbearable.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Doesn’t the Rose Adventurer Team still have some members left? Go kill them! Not a single one of these bastards should be spared!"

Since Eunice was already dead, he could only vent his hatred on the remaining members of the Rose Adventurer Team.

Rolf was also furious about the severe injuries Eunice had inflicted. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed toward the other end of the valley, determined to wipe out every last member of the Rose Adventurer Team.

Meanwhile, the rest of their group hurried over, surrounding Marshall and pulling out various alchemical medicines to treat his wounds.

Suddenly, Marshall’s heart lurched, he sensed something ominous and abruptly lifted his head.

In the sky above, two figures were floating there, unnoticed until now.

One of them waved his hand, causing a massive golden card to appear, followed by countless golden blades manifesting in the air.

The other, with a wave of her hand, summoned streams of starlit sword energy, their sharpness so intense you could feel it just by looking.

"Be careful!"

Marshall shouted.

His injuries were too severe, clearly affecting his perception. It wasn’t until the two figures in the sky launched their attack that he realized something was wrong.

Hearing Marshall’s shout, the people around him looked up, their nerves instantly tightening.

But then someone laughed, "Just two early tier Listeners? They actually think they can challenge us? How laughable."

As Carlotta and Amelia attacked, waves of magic fluctuated, clearly revealing their ranks.

Marshall relaxed upon seeing this. The reason the two could fly must be due to some external means.

But in the next moment, everyone’s expressions changed.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Golden blades and starlit sword aura howled down from the sky, their blazing energy instantly engulfing everyone present.

The Listeners around Marshall leaped into action, using their various abilities to block the aerial assault. But then one after another let out agonized screams.

Only after directly clashing with Carlotta and Amelia’s attacks did they realize just how absurdly powerful their strength truly was, far beyond what any early tier Listener should be capable of.

In just a single exchange, Marshall saw a downpour of blood splatter before his eyes, drenching his head. Even severed limbs and chunks of flesh rained down from the air. The scene was horrifying and gruesome.

Marshall never expected such a result. Alarmed, he quickly kicked the nearby wall with his foot, using the recoil force to launch himself away.

"Boom! Boom!"

The moment Marshall evaded, golden light and sword aura crashed down, exploding violently and shattering the ground where he had just been sitting into countless fragments. Stones flew everywhere.

Failing to land their strike, Carlotta and Amelia immediately launched their next assault. Dense waves of golden blades and starlit sword aura sliced toward them once more.

Marshall felt his hair stand on end.

These two were clearly early tier Listeners, yet the power they displayed seemed, in his eyes, stronger than even peak tier Listeners.

Of course, if he were at full strength, he wouldn’t fear these two. He could easily defeat them. But now, he was suffering unprecedented injuries. Facing them, he could even smell death approaching.

"Frank! Hurry back!"

Marshall shouted loudly for Rolf.

At the same time, he raised his remaining left hand and rapidly enlarged it, then swiped it toward the sky.

When Giant Magic is cultivated to a sufficiently profound level, one can fully enlarge their entire body into a towering colossus, manifesting incredible power.

But until then, only partial enlargement is possible.

Even as a Resonator, Marshall could only achieve partial enlargement.

"Boom!"

The massive hand swept through the air, instantly obliterating all the attacks launched by Carlotta and Amelia.

But as he pulled his hand back, Marshall let out a scream.

He looked at his hand and saw it had been sliced beyond recognition. The upper half was nearly severed, white bones clearly exposed. The pain was so intense he nearly fainted.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of tearing air echoed through the valley.

Carlotta and Amelia’s attacks arrived again, golden blades and starlit sword aura intertwining, radiating dazzling light, impossibly sharp.

Though he felt he could hardly endure it, Marshall had no choice but to lift his blood-soaked hand once more, enlarging it and swiping at the sky.

But this time, he failed to block Carlotta and Amelia’s attacks.

That enormous hand was actually ripped apart by the golden blades and starlit sword qi. Blood sprayed, flesh scattered.

Marshall let out a piercing scream, helplessly watching as his hand was shredded. The two attackers’ strikes were razor-sharp, advancing with overwhelming force, ultimately tearing apart his entire arm and closing in on him.

Blood sprayed into the air.

The golden blade and starlight sword aura slashed through simultaneously. Marshall’s entire left side was instantly torn apart. With intense resentment, his body swayed and helplessly collapsed.

Before attacking Eunice, he never imagined ending up in such a fate. Eunice hadn’t managed to kill him, yet two mere early tier Listeners who appeared from nowhere delivered the fatal blow.

Even in death, he couldn’t comprehend how mere early tier Listeners could display such absurd strength.

"Dead?"

Carlotta stared tightly at Marshall, her heart pounding violently.

At the final moment of competition on Sky Island, she had finally found the chance to reverse the situation.

She rapidly descended, having noticed several tokens mysteriously appearing beside Marshall’s body, knowing for certain that Marshall was dead.

After Eunice died, her tokens were taken by Rolf. However, Rolf and Marshall had been considered allies, ranked under Marshall’s identity. So when Marshall died, all tokens in Rolf’s possession would be teleported here.

There were far too many tokens. Carlotta quickly gathered them into her storage card.

Over five thousand tokens! With these, Carlotta’s total token count was now enough to surpass Olivia Garcia and reclaim first place.

After collecting the tokens, Carlotta didn’t have time to check the sky rankings. Her elven wings flapped as she prepared to leave, there was no need to keep fighting Rolf, leader of Shadow Adventurer’s Guild.

But just as she flew into the air, a strong sense of crisis surged within her. Almost instinctively, she dodged sideways.

The moment she moved, a dark figure materialized at her previous position, Rolf himself.

"You’re asking for death!"

Rolf’s expression was extremely grotesque, his eyes sharp as knives, glaring at Carlotta.

He never expected that while he was off chasing the remaining members of Rose Adventurer’s Guild, a major incident occurred here, everyone, including Marshall, had been ambushed and killed by two early tier Listeners.

Fortunately, he returned just in time. Otherwise, all his gains would have belonged to these two!

He rapidly closed the distance through mid-air, his speed not slow at all. In his hand was a short sword radiating an extremely sharp cold light, seemingly capable of piercing through anything, like a venomous snake suddenly darting from its den, rushing toward Carlotta.

Unable to dodge in time, Carlotta summoned her Dawn Sword and fiercely swung horizontally.

"Bang!"

Their weapons collided. Carlotta felt as if struck by a massive wave, immediately flung backward.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Amelia swiftly came to support, unleashing countless intersecting starlight sword beams that rained down, enveloping Rolf completely.

"Shadow Kill!"

Rolf whispered.

He activated a Shadow Knight movement, one that only Resonators could use.

His shadow detached itself from his body, turned around, and intercepted the barrage of sword beams Amelia unleashed. It swung its sword, shattering each beam one by one.

Then, the shadow charged toward Amelia.

This was a Resonator’s shadow. Although it might not possess the full combat strength of the original, for a certain duration, it could still pose a threat.

Rolf used his shadow to deal with Amelia while he himself rushed toward Carlotta. These two had managed to kill Marshall, though Marshall had already been severely injured, Rolf still couldn’t afford to overlook them.

Especially since he recognized Carlotta and Amelia as the two individuals he’d seen earlier, who had escaped his sight. They were too fast; if they truly fled, he might not be able to catch up.

To prevent this, he had to unleash an overwhelming, tide-like assault, only then could he ensure the two couldn’t escape or avoid him.

And indeed, that was exactly what he did.

Carlotta looked up and saw Rolf rushing toward her, saw the short sword stabbing straight at her. Its sharpness was so intense that merely seeing it made her feel physical pain.

Without hesitation, she swung her sword and charged forward directly, she wouldn’t retreat.

Although enhanced by her Speed Card, her movement speed could be very high. But trying to flee at such close range might lead to serious injury, because while his sustained flight speed wasn’t faster than hers, that didn’t mean his burst speed was slower.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Their swords clashed repeatedly, fast exchanges creating dazzling sparks between them.

The moment they engaged, Carlotta felt enormous pressure. This opponent was stronger than anyone she’d ever fought before, bringing overwhelming force. She felt as if she were a tiny boat amidst a raging storm, barely able to steady herself.

’Is this a Resonator? Magic power permeating every cell of the body, the entire body magically transformed... No, that’s something only peak tier Resonators can achieve. He’s only an early tier Resonator; only parts of his body are magically transformed.’

Carlotta’s eyes sharpened. While defending, she carefully observed him, trying to determine which parts of his body had undergone magical transformation.

The magically transformed parts were undoubtedly stronger, while the untransformed areas were weaknesses.

Well, calling them weaknesses might be a stretch. They were merely parts of his body easier to attack.

This was difficult to judge, since Carlotta had to concentrate fully on the battle, unable to spare attention for other things.

One misstep, and Carlotta was struck on both her shoulder and thigh. Though only lightly grazed, she was still wounded.

"So strong... Is this really a Resonator?"

Carlotta fought while retreating, her expression tense.

Yet she didn’t know how deeply shaken Rolf truly was, especially after hearing Carlotta’s words. His mood became even more complex.

He was an early tier Resonator! Fighting an early tier Listener, and he still hadn’t subdued her after all this time? Her words made him feel extremely awkward, making his entire body uncomfortable.

Immediately, Rolf intensified his assault even further. His short sword whirled like a dark flower, sometimes blooming, sometimes scattering, enveloping his opponent with countless attacks. Within the darkness lurked peerless killing intent.

Carlotta felt even greater pressure.

They battled beneath the night moon, the commotion so great that people not too far away couldn’t help but notice, coming from afar to take a look.

"My god, what’s this? An early tier Listener fighting an early tier Resonator? Did I see that wrong?"

"What’s going on? Can early tier Listeners be this powerful?"

"Impossible! Am I dreaming?"